Railways of Wales 2018Tour Details

Llandudno

Today you arrive in the town of Llandudno, where you meet your
Tour Manager at your hotel for the next five nights, the family run
Kensington Hotel. This classically-styled Victorian Hotel enjoys a
superb position on Llandudno's central promenade and enjoys
fantastic views of Llandudno Bay.

A township since the thirteenth century, Llandudno, like many
British coastal resorts, rose to prominence in the Victorian era.
By 1848 Llandudno had become an established fishing and
copper-mining town with a population of around a thousand when it
was proposed that the town might achieve further prosperity as a
holiday resort. Significant development followed, including the
construction of a new pier, seafront promenade, a pavilion, plus
new hotels and guest houses.

Modern Llandudno retains its Victorian splendour and natural
beauty but also offers a host of entertainments for visitors
including both a tramway and a cable car to the summit of Great
Orme as well as museums, public gardens and traditional seaside
amusements.

You have some time at leisure to explore the surrounding area
before you enjoy a welcome dinner at the hotel this evening.

Portmeirion

Today, enjoy an excursion on the steam-hauled* Ffestiniog
Railway, a narrow-gauge heritage railway in the Snowdonia National
Park. The Ffestiniog Railway was originally founded in 1832 as a
means of transporting slate, and miners, from the quarries at
Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog, and claims to be the oldest
independent railway company in the world.

You travel through the scenery of Snowdonia National Park to
Porthmadog. From here it's on to Portmeirion, famous for its lovely
location.

Visitors arriving in Portmeirion for the first time could be
forgiven for thinking that they had arrived in a typically
colourful Italian- Mediterranean village. In fact, that was the
intention of Portmeirion's designer; the renowned Welsh architect
Sir Clough Williams-Ellis. You may wish to visit the central piazza
or Battery Square, and its quaint souvenir shops.

Llangollen

Board the Llangollen Railway* travelling through some of the
most beautiful scenery in the UK. The Llangollen Railway was formed
in 1975 by a group of railway enthusiasts who wanted to open and
run a heritage railway on the disused line.

You travel along the banks of the River Dee to Corwen. After
some free time for lunch, enjoy a horse-drawn boat trip along the
Llangollen canal.

*Steam-hauled if possible.

Please Note: For
departures 18LLS23a and 18LLS24a Days
3 and 5 swapped around.

A day at leisure

Your day is free, perhaps to explore Llandudno or take the Great
Orme cable-hauled tramway for breathtaking views of Snowdonia and
Anglesey.

Llandudno's historic highlights can be easily explored on foot
and a dedicated Town Trail provides a recommended route which
begins at the town's library and takes in notable features
including several of Llandudno's churches, the promenade, the
railway station, the pier and two of the town's public gardens.

Caernarfon

A full-day excursion by coach takes you through some of the most
dramatic mountain scenery in Britain to Caernarfon for a guided
tour of Caenarfon Castle. Continue with a journey on the Welsh
Highland Railway*, a narrow-gauge line running along the foothills
of the Snowdonia Mountain range, to Beddgelert where there is time
to explore this pretty village before returning to Llandudno.

Located where the rivers Glaslyn and Colwyn meet within the
Snowdonia National Park in north Wales, the picturesque stone
village of Beddgelert is surrounded by beautiful wooded valleys,
rolling hills and mountain lakes. Snowdon itself, Wales' highest
mountain, is fewer than five miles north of the village.

Llandudno

After breakfast, you are free to depart at your leisure.
Alternatively, why not explore more of this wonderful area before
heading home? You could take a final walk around the beautiful town
of Llandudno. Traversing the crescent-shaped bay between Great Orme
and its smaller twin Little Orme, Llandudno's wide promenade is
backed by grand, white-washed Victorian hotels and is a delightful
spot to sit back on one of the many benches provided and watch the
world go by.

Departure Times

On many of our UK & Ireland tours, you may check in at the
first hotel on your itinerary anytime
after 14:00; your Tour Manager will be
available
between 16:00 and 18:00.
However, if you are arriving later, you can meet your Tour Manager
before dinner from 19:00.

Cancellation & Travel Insurance is not included in the
price of the tour but can be arranged.

What our customers think

90%

of travellers would recommend this tour

Tour Rating

based on 50 verified reviews

Mrs A Harper

On the whole it was a good holiday and great value for money. The only downside I would say was the fact that we had to have a double bed when we would have preferred twin beds, and as the bed was rather sensitive to movement neither of us slept very well. Plus it was a 4 ft 6 ins bed which exacerbated the problem

Mrs P Ballinger

Well organised and everyone very friendly

Excellent trips and a very knowledgeable and helpful tour manager. Great driver with lots of local knowledge.Would have preferred to pay more for a better hotel. Great location, clean and a well cooked breakfast but dinner, pre ordered, served at 6.30pm. We ate out each day. Slow service at breakfast some days and a roast dinner every night!

Mrs M Heath

Very good leader and well planned tour.

Mr C Dore

We have done this directly to the company by filling in the customer survey at the end of the holiday

Our trip was excellent. The schedule of activities was as expected. The hotel facilities and food were of a very high standard. Our tour manager and coach driver made the whole experience very interesting and informative.

Mr D Fry

Good hotel, however the dry breakfast choices were very limited, (we don't eat cooked breakfasts), but apart from this small point the hotel was very good and well sited on the sea front. Your organised rail and coach trips were well thought out coupled with an excellent coach driver who gave a very quality running commentary of north Wales area and by varying the routes he took each day presented us with different views within the the same area travelled.